Does your run through the Starbucks drive thru ever include anything like a grande lowfat white chocolate mocha?

If so, you might as well stop by McDonald's to have a Chocolate Triple Thick shake or Wendy's for a Vanilla Frosty Float with Coca-Cola.

Starbucks Nutrition Guide to Drink Extras

Cal./# pumps

1

2

3

4

Flavored Sugar-Free Syrup

0

0

0

0

Flavored Syrup

20

40

60

80

Mocha Syrup

25

50

75

100

Caramel

5

10

15

20

Chocolate toppings (per tsp.)

15

30

45

60

The Starbucks white chocolate mocha will cost you more calories than either.

It has almost double the fat and saturated fat than the Chocolate Triple Thick Shake has! The point...

...Coffee S.S. (Since Starbucks) isn't as inconsequential as you might hope. A habit of seemingly innocent Starbucks coffee drinks can cause your belt to need a new notch if you're not careful.

Starbucks Nutrition Information: The 200 Calorie Gallery

A dozen hot drinks that won't break your fat or calorie budget. The following tall drinks all are less than 200 calories and 3 grams of fat:

Brewed Coffee

Brewed Tazo Tea

Nonfat Tazo Green Tea Latte

Nonfat Cappuccino

Nonfat Caffe Latte

Nonfat Caramel Macchiato

Soy Tazo Chai Tea Latte

Nonfat Caffe Mocha - hold the whipped

Nonfat Sugar Free Vanilla Latte

Steamed Apple Cider

Nonfat Vanilla Creme

Caffe Americano

Starbucks Nutrition Guide to Cold Drinks: The 200 Calorie Gallery

The following tall drinks contain less than 200 calories and 3 grams of fat:

Coffee Frappuccino Light Blended Coffee

Caramel Frappuccino Light Blended Coffee

Coffee Frappucino Blended Coffee

Shaken Tazo Iced Passion Tea

Shaken Tazo Iced Black Tea Lemonade

Nonfat Iced Vanilla Latte

Nonfat Iced Caramel Macchiato

Nonfat Iced Tazo Chai Tea Latte

Iced Coffee with Classic Syrup

Even if you don't care for the fancy coffee drinks and simply lighten your Starbucks coffee with a bit of half and half, your waistline could be at risk. Consider this:

A daily habit of 1 venti Starbucks coffee with 2 Tbsp. half and half = 40 calories. Not much, especially compared to many other of the Starbucks coffee drinks. But...

...40 calories x 365 days per year = 14,600 calories. That's the equivalent of 4 pounds of body fat! If weight loss eludes you, take a closer look at your Starbucks coffee habit!

Starbucks Coffee Facts

A plain ol' cup of joe will only cost you ~5 calories. Start adding sugar, cream or milk and the numbers start climbing. Order a more specialized drink with added syrups and/or whipped cream and the numbers start skyrocketing. Starbucks Nutrition Information is provided for every coffee drink on Starbucks' website, but here's a quick summary of how and where calories add up.

Starbucks Nutrition Guide to Milk Options

Whether you opt for the coffee drinks made with milk (lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, etc.) or you like to lighten your plain black coffee, you have the choice of a few different kinds of milk:

Quick Starbucks Nutrition Fact: Use whole milk in place or half in half in your coffee and save 10 calories per tablespoon!! That would result in a 2 pound weight loss per year if you use a mere 2 tablespoons per day.

Starbucks purchases fresh bakery products from local suppliers. On the official Starbucks website you can enter your zip code and find the specific nutrition information for the pastries offered at a Starbucks near you. Here's what you can expect. The numbers aren't very pretty ...

Food

Calories

Muffins & Scones

400-500

Reduced Fat Loaves & Coffee Cakes

300-400

Regular Loaves & Coffee Cakes

350-500

Plain Croissants & Bagels

250-350

Doughnuts, Sweet Rolls, & Danishes

450-600

Brownies, Cookies & Bars

350-500

My suggestion? Consider the pastries an occasional treat. If you're looking for a healthier breakfast option, choose from lowfat yogurt, fruit cups, and lowfat yogurt/granola/fruit cups that many locations now offer.

Starbucks Nutrition Tip: If you MUST have a sweet treat with your coffee, the smallest, lowest calorie option is a biscotti.

Upon discovering that I was a nutritionist (meet me), a date once asked me the famous Barbara Walters question:

"If you were a food, what food would you want to be?"

My answer: Starbucks coffee.

Why...you must wonder? I figured people love it:

no matter the size (short, tall or grande)

whether it's bitter or whether it's sweet

whether it's black or whether it's white

and people go out of their way to include it in their daily routine

Now who wouldn't want to be Starbucks coffee?!

On the other hand, who would want to show evidence of it on the hips....